Food and Fun

It already looks like Christmas in Van Wyck, with its streets lined with old-fashioned light poles.

The small community between Indian Land and Lancaster will spread holiday cheer with a Christmas parade at noon Saturday, Dec. 8, and the Lighting of the Way candle-lighting and worship event at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9.

The two events, routinely held on the second weekend in December, are holiday traditions for those who like the charm of small-town gatherings. Both are organized by the Van Wyck Community Development Club.

Imagine what it would have been like in Lancaster when the main means of travel were walking or horses and buggies.

Elizabeth “Teeny” Kerr, now age 93, remembers those days.

Kerr is one of Lancaster’s special seniors who experienced those days and all the changes in between that bring us to today. She is also unique in that she actually attended all three First Presbyterian Church locations in Lancaster – from the historic church on Gay Street, to its more modern home on North Main Street.

Founded in 1960, Americans for the Arts is the nations’ leading non-profit organization for advancing the arts and arts education. In addition to providing a rich array of programs that meet the needs of over 150,000 members and stakeholders, the programs are dedicated to representing and serving local communities to create opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.

In most any situation or circumstance, the people best qualified to help others are those who have been through the same or very similar situations or circumstances. That’s why Leslie Murphy, a disabled veteran of the United States Marine Corps, founded the Carolina Veterans Commission, a non-profit organization based in Lancaster.

Hail to the chipotle chile pepper! Chipotles are smoked jalapenos and are commonly found in grocery stores, either as a powder in the spice aisle or in cans with aromatic adobo sauce in the ethnic foods aisle.

Home cook Sandi Sheppard adds flavor and flair to her pork chili recipe with these tantalizing chile peppers, along with fresh jalapenos and canned chipotle-spiked white corn. Fresh cilantro sprinkled on top cools it down.

WEST COLUMBIA — Hundreds of thousands of people across South Carolina live in communities where access to supermarkets or large grocery stores is beyond reach. In agricultural terms, such areas are called “food deserts” — communities where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain.

“For a growing population, healthy foods are much harder to come by in the modern world,” Clemson University professor Dave Lamie said. “For many, they sadly are beyond reach.”